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Century Next Financial Corporation Reports 3rd Quarter 2015 Results

RUSTON, La., Oct. 27, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Century Next Financial Corporation (OTCQB: CTUY), the holding company of Bank of Ruston with $182.0 million in assets, today announced financial results for the 3rd quarter ended September 30, 2015.

Financial Performance

For the three months ended September 30, 2015, Century Next Financial Corporation (the "Company") had net income after tax of $435,000 compared to net income of $356,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2014, an increase of $79,000 or 22.2%. Earnings per share (EPS) for the three months ended September 30, 2015 were $0.42 per basic and diluted share compared to $0.35 and $0.34 per basic and diluted share, respectively, reported for the three months ended September 30, 2014.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2015, net income was $1,177,000 compared to net income of $918,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2014, an increase of $259,000 or 28.2%. Earnings per share (EPS) for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 were $1.15 and $1.13 per basic and diluted share, respectively, compared to $0.89 and $0.88 per basic and diluted share, respectively, reported for the same period in 2014.

Earnings per share information for 2014 for the three and nine months periods has been revised to reflect the effect of the 2015 stock dividend for comparative purposes.

Balance Sheet

Overall, total assets increased by $12.3 million or 7.3% to $182 million at September 30, 2015 compared to $169.7 million at December 31, 2014.

The largest component of assets, loans, net of deferred fees and costs and the allowance for loan losses, increased $9.4 million or 6.6% for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 compared to December 31, 2014. Total net loans at September 30, 2015 were $152 million compared to $142.6 million at December 31, 2014. Year to date growth occurred in multiple areas including residential 1-4 family loans, up $9.4 million, commercial real estate loans, up $3.0 million, agricultural real estate, up $2.5 million, agricultural, non-real estate loans, up $1.2 million, and home equity lines of credit, up $593,000. The increases were offset by decreases in residential construction loans of $1.9 million, land loans of $1.8 million, commercial, non-real estate loans of $1.2 million, multi-family real estate loans of $911,000, held-for-sale mortgage loans of $808,000, and consumer loans of $578,000.

Total deposits at September 30, 2015 increased $11.8 million or 8.7% to $147.6 million compared to $135.8 million at December 31, 2014. For the year-to-date period, interest-bearing checking increased $13.9 million, noninterest-bearing checking increased $3.3 million, savings deposits increased $1.7 million, and money market deposits increased $939,000. The increases were offset by a decrease in time deposits of $8.0 million.

Total short-term borrowings decreased to $9.5 million at September 30, 2015 from $10.5 million at December 31, 2014, a decrease of $1.0 million or 9.5%. This reduction came from funding provided by deposit growth as mentioned above.

Income Statement

Net interest income was $1.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2015 compared to $1.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2014. This was an increase of $145,000, or 8.6%. For the nine months ended September 30, 2015, net interest income was $5.4 million compared to $4.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2014, an increase of $644,000 or 13.6%. The increases for the three- and nine-month periods were primarily from interest income earned on loans from increased volume.

The provision for loan losses amounted to $72,000 and $216,000 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 compared to $48,000 and $144,000 in provision for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, respectively. The increases in loan loss provision for the quarter- and year-to-date periods as compared to the prior year quarter- and year-to-date periods are not a result of increased loss activity but more appropriately a result of increased risk awareness and identification to strengthen the allowance for loan losses.

Total non-interest income amounted to $308,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2015 compared to $253,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2014, an increase of $55,000 or 21.7%. For the nine months ended September 30, 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, non-interest income was $759,000 compared to $698,000, respectively, an increase of $61,000 or 8.7%. The increases for the three- and nine-month periods were both primarily due to fluctuations in income generated from mortgage activity in both the refinancing and new construction markets, service charges on deposit accounts, and other income.

Total non-interest expense increased by $4,000 or 0.3% to $1.4 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 compared to $1.4 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2014. For the nine months ended September 30, 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, non-interest expense increased by $206,000 or 5.2% to $4.2 million up from $4.0 million. The increases for both the three- and nine-month periods, on a year over year comparative basis, were primarily due to increases in salaries and employee benefits due to staff additions and compensation increases. The Company continues to show improvement in its efficiency ratio, a measure of expense as a percent of total income, to 65.1% and 68.0% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 compared to 71.6% and 73.1% for the same periods, respectively, in 2014.

Other Financial Information

Nonperforming assets, including loans past due 90 days or more and nonaccrual loans, increased from $701,000 at December 31, 2014 to $943,000 at September 30, 2015. The increase was due to loans involving primarily one customer that experienced a deterioration in financial condition. Management is working diligently to minimize any potential losses. Impairment analyses were performed on all nonaccrual and other classified loans as identified by management and no impairment amount was deemed necessary at September 30, 2015. Net charge-offs for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 were $14,000 and $48,000, respectively, compared to no charge-offs or recoveries during the same periods in 2014.

Additional Information

Century Next Financial Corporation is the holding company for Bank of Ruston (the "Bank") which conducts business from its main office and full-service branch office, located in Ruston, Louisiana. The Company was formed in 2010 and is subject to the regulatory oversight of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary and is an insured federally-chartered stock savings association subject to the regulatory oversight of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Bank was established in 1905 and is headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana. The Bank is a full-service bank with two banking offices in Ruston. The Bank emphasizes professional and personal banking service directed primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals. The Bank provides a full range of banking services including its primary business of real estate lending to residential and commercial customers.

Statements contained in this news release which are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words like "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," and "intend" or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," or "may." We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement